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MOTHER OWL AND FATHER FROG 





NATIONAL PUBLISHING CO, 
PHILADELPHIA, PA, 




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1921, by 
National Publishing Co., in the Office of the Librarian 
of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 


NOV -5 1921 

Q)CLA6a7618 


J 



iBl)ai l^appened^ear3%o 


M other owl is very wise and she can tell 
of many things she has both seen and heard. 
She had promised to tell her babies a story if they 
would not try to fly from the nest too soon. Bright 
Eyes, the largest and strongest, was the most anxious 
of all to leave the nest. 

One evening Bright Eyes felt that he could wait 
no longer to hear that story, as his wings were so strong 
that he wished to go out into the big, wide world that 
evening. 

"'What do you wish me to tell you about?” asked 
his mother. 

Bright Eyes knew nothing about all the wonderful 


WHAT HAPPENED YEARS AGO 


things in the world, for he had never seen it, you know. 
While he was thinking, he heard a sound to which he 
had often listened. He wondered what it could be, 
but he had never asked. 

‘'Mother, tell me about that. What is it?” 

Mother Owl closed her eyes slowly and almost 
laughed. “That is Father Frog singing,” she replied. 



For a while they listened. Father Frog was singing 
with all his might. 

“My dear,” she began, “you have, of course, never 
seen Father Frog or any of his family, but I will tell 
you a story about them which has been passed down 
to me from ages past. There is no truth in it, I think. 


WHAT HAPPENED YEARS AGO 


but there are many who do believe it, and it is very 
interesting. 

‘‘Once upon a time, long, long ago, a goddess was 
driven away from her home with her two babies. She 
could find no place to rest, for if she sat down even 
for a minute her enemy would come up and drive her 
on. She became very thirsty and tired, but no one 
would even give her food or drink or a bed. 

“By and by she came to a clear lake of water, and 
she knelt on the bank to drink. Her babies were also 
as tired and thirsty as she. But there were people close 
by who owned that pond of water, and when they saw 
the goddess kneeling to drink they told her to go away. 
She begged for water for herself and babies, but still 
they refused. She did not go away when she was told, 
for she could hardly move on account of being so 
thirsty and tired. Then these people began to throw 
stones at her, and they waded into the water to make 
it dirty. 

“This soon made the goddess angry, for she could 
see that they had plenty of water to spare. ‘Ell make 


WHAT HAPPENED YEARS AGO 


you regret this/ she said, ‘and you will have to spend 
the rest of your lives in this water. You will some 
time wish you had been kind to me.’ 

“Very soon these people found their voices growing 



‘THEN THESE PEOPLE BEGAN TO THROW STONES AT HER” 


harsh, just like Father Frog’s. Their throats became 
bloated, their mouths grew larger, and their necks 
shrunk until they had none. Their backs turned green, 
and their feet became webbed so they could swim. 
Now, Bright Eyes, can you imagine what they were^?” 

Mother Owl looked at her baby lovingly. Bright 


WHAT HAPPENED YEARS AGO 


Eyes had taken in every word and had not moved 
while he listened. 

“Yes, mother,” he said, “these people were changed 
into frogs.” 

“You are right, my dear,” replied Mother Owl. “It 
was a dreadful thing to refuse water to the thirsty. 
But, Bright Eyes, I told you at the first that it might 
not be true, and you need not believe it unless you 
wish. It is just an old, old story that has been going 
round. Father Frog is a very nice old fellow, and I 
am sure he would never believe in doing such a thing.” 

When Bright Eyes left his nest that evening he 
sailed over quietly where he could see Father Frog. 
He sat for a long time looking at him and listening 
to the singing, and then he went to his mother. 

“I have seen Father Frog,” he said. “He seems to 
be a fine old fellow and I don’t believe a word of that 
story.” 




Q&ppertBoodpecker leara^ to Sat>e 


4 4T^ID you ever hear about how Tapper Wood- 
JL J pecker learned to save?” asked Mother Owl. 
Robin Redbreast was listening at a worm under 
the ground. She flew to a limb and told Mother Owl 
to please tell her how Tapper learned to save, as she 
had often wondered, and would not have a better 
chance than right now to hear about it. 

“Long, long ago Tapper Woodpecker’s ancestors 
came back from the south and found snow all over the 
ground. They had been told that they were coming 
too early, but the Woodpeckers would have it their 
way. And they got into trouble, just as people are 
very apt to do when they think they know better than 
any one else. They looked all round, but could find 


TAPPER WOODPECKER LEARNS TO SAVE 


nothing except few weed seeds. Finally warmer 
weather came and the snow went away, but the Wood- 
peckers had learned a lesson. They kept thinking 
about it all summer, and when the nuts began to drop 
and acorns were ripe they knew they would have to 
make a move toward having something saved for the 
next spring. 

“Old Tapper Woodpecker and his wife tried to 
study it out, but the more they thought about it the 
more puzzled they became. Finally, Jack Squirrel, 
who was busy as he could be laying away in his cellar, 
asked the Woodpeckers why they didn’t do as he was 
doing? They thought this might be just the thing, 
so they cleaned out their old house in the dead walnut 
tree and chucked it full. They had corn, wheat, acorns 
and several other things in that hole, and they flew 
away to the south again to spend the winter. 

“They were so encouraged over this that they came 
back earlier the next spring, for they tho.ught they 
would be sure to have a plenty to eat from their store- 
house until the days became warmer. Now, what do 


TAPPER WOODPECKER LEARNS TO SAVE 


you think? Old Tapper Woodpecker and his wife 
were dumbfounded when they went to get their food, 
for all of it was gone! 


'It is not very pleasant to come home tired and 
hungry only to find that some one has gone off with 



your nice dinner and has not even said 'thank you’ 
for it. 

"Old Tapper almost fainted away. Here they had 
come back so early, and the weather was so cold and 
the ground covered with snow. They inquired of sev- 


TAPPER WOODPECKER LEARNS TO SAVE 


eral neighbors about what had become of that food, 
but none of them would give any reasonable answers. 
And, after all. Tapper Woodpecker and his wife 
would have been just as hungry even if they had 
known where the food had gone. Some said Jack 
Squirrel had stolen it, and others said the food had 
begun to spoil so much that Johnny Blue Jay had 
thrown it all out of the hole because he was afaid 
it would make the Woodpeckers sick if they ate it. 
And so it went. Nobody ever did know for certain 
what became of that food, but I noticed that Jack 
Squirrel always broke into a laugh whenever the sub- 
ject was mentioned. But you know he is a very noisy 
fellow, always chattering and laughing and having a 
wonderful time that he does not tell any one about. 

“Well, the Woodpeckers had to get along once 
more on weed seed until the warm days came, but they 
said they would find another way to save for the fol- 
lowing spring. Nice fat worms were not to be found 
every day, and that was one thing that Old Tapper 
Woodpecker desired. 


TAPPER WOODPECKER LEARNS TO SAVE 


“Finally, he asked Grandmother Nature. She was 
more than ready to tell him what to do, and she could 
tell him something that would just suit him. She 
knew Woodpeckers like to peck holes in trees, for their 
bills are made for that purpose, and Tapper could as 
well do something like that for storing food. 

“She told him to peck holes in the trees just large 
enough to hold an acorn. An acorn was to be put in 
each of these holes with the tip of the acorn pointing 
inward. Tapper pecked holes in trees and did as he 
was told. He knew that fine, fat worms often lived 
in acorns, but he didn’t see how this was going to have 
anything to do with acorns in the holes which he 
pecked in trees. Tapper was wise enough to obey 
Grandmother Nature even though he did not under- 
stand, for he knew that she always takes good care of 
her children. 

“Grandmother Nature said, ‘Wait until next spring, 
Tapper. When you come back to eat the food you 
have saved, just peck a hole in the ends of those acorns 
and see what you will find.’ She had to laugh to her- 


TAPPER WOODPECKER LEARNS TO SAVE 


self when she thought how greedy Tapper Wood- 
pecker would be after he discovered what was inside 
those acorns.” 

Robin Redbreast was again listening to a worm in 
the ground, and Mother Owl knew it would do no 
good to continue that story unless Robin paid closer 
attention. 

“Now, Robin Redbreast,” said Mother Owl, “lis- 
ten to what Tapper Woodpecker found when he came 
back. It was strange that the Woodpeckers were not 
in a hurry to get back that spring. They waited until 
pleasant days before they came. But when they went 
to look at those acorns they saw they were still in the 
holes where they had put them. 

“Old Tapper stuck his bill into one of those acorns 
and then looked at his wife. She was wondering 
what he would find, and she was just waiting to see 
what it was before she went to work opening acorns. 
Tapper gave another whack at that acorn and one 
whole side fell off. Now what do you suppose he saw? 
One of the finest, fattest worms any bird ever looked 


TAPPER WOODPECKER LEARNS TO SAVE 


at. Those two Woodpeckers became very greedy and 
they opened one acorn after another the whole day 
long, always finding a fat worm in each of them. 
Within a week there wasn’t an acorn left that they had 
saved, but the weather was becoming warmer, so other 
food was plentiful. You see, those worms had been 
fattening all winter in those acorns, and they couldn’t 
get out because they usually get out the sides or the 
tip of the acorns. Old Tapper pushed those acorns in 
far enough so that the worms could not get out.” 

“I couldn’t do that way,” said Robin, “for I don’t 
eat acorns and I couldn’t manage to put one in a hole 
in a tree.” 

“Every one is not made to do the same things. 
Mother Earth has different plans for her children. 
That is why she does not make them all just alike. 

“It is because Grandmother Nature never intended 
for you to do such things, anyway, Robin Redbreast. 
You haven’t the right kind of bill for pecking holes 
and your feet are not of the kind to cling to the sides 
of trees.” 


TAPPER WOODPECKER LEARNS TO SAVE 


“That’s true,” replied Robin, “but I am contented 
as I am for I have no trouble at all in finding plenty 
when I come back each spring. But did the Wood- 
peckers continue to lay up acorns for keeping?” 

Dear me, yes,” laughed Mother Owl. “They lay 
up a great many, and they are always thinking about 
what they will find when they come back in the 
spring.” 




t©|)ere t|)e Brook tea? aoing 

M ISS BOSSIE, the pretty white heifer who lived 
in the big pasture, never could understand 
where the brook was going. Often she would go down 
to the brook, look at herself in the clear water, and 
then wonder and wonder where in the world that 
brook was going. She asked her mother and all the 
other cows, but none of them knew a thing about it. 
She asked the brook itself, but it went right on and 
never answered her questions. 

The more Miss Bossie thought it over every day the 
more anxious she became to know about the journey 
the brook was taking. By and by Mother Owl heard 
of it, for Miss Bossie often lay down right under 
the tree and talked to herself about that little brook. 


WHERE THE BROOK WAS GOING 


“ril tell you where the brook is going, Miss Bos- 
sie,” said Mother Owl at sundown one hot day after 
the pretty heifer had quenched her thirst in the spark- 
ling brook. “This little brook is going to the sea. 
Men call this sea the ocean. It is very large and deep. 

“Some little brooks go dry in the hot days, but this 
one never does, for it comes from a large spring. That 
accounts for the coolness of the water. It has a track 
or road in which it travels on and on to the river. 
Other little brooks join in for company before it 
arrives at the river, and then we call them a creek. 
The river is very glad to take them with him, and such 
a gurgling, laughing and roaring company you never 
heard as that river and all his little brooks are as they 
go to the big, wide ocean. 

“This little brook once grew so large that it couldn’t 
stay in its banks. It gathered many raindrops from a 
storm, and soon it crept over the fields and meadows, 
sweeping away lovely acres of corn and wheat. That 
little brook had grown so large that it became angry. 
All little brooks do when they grow too large. So does 


\ 



“FLL TELL YOU WHERE THE BROOK IS GOING, MISS BOSSIE” 



WHERE THE BROOK WAS GOING 


the river who has so far to travel and so many little 
brooks to care for/’ 

“Well, well, Mother Owl,” said Miss Bossie, “if it 
makes the river angry why does he bother with these 
noisy little brooks? I wouldn’t; would you?” 

“Hoo, hoo. Miss Bossie; yes, I would if I were a 
river. The river is always glad to take in the brooks, 
and it does him good in many ways, even if it does 
make him angry. You see the more little brooks he 
gathers up the better it is for men who have boats to 
sail. If there were no brooks the river would die. I 
don’t believe the river or the brooks would ever get 
angry if the thirsty land did not cry out for rain so 
loudly. The thirsty plants cry for water, and then 
the winds gather the clouds and tell them to send the 
rain.” 

Miss Bossie chewed her cud and switched the flies 
from her pretty round back. 

“This little brook will never know who it is by the 
time it gets to the sea,” continued Mother Owl. 
“Now, isn’t that funny?” 


WHERE THE BROOK WAS GOING 


Miss Bossie swallowed her cud and jumped up. 
She said “Bah!” several times to call her mother and 
then ran away to tell about that little brook. 

Mother Owl herself felt that she would like to fly 
away and see the great ocean, but she remembered 
that it was time to think about getting ready for win- 
ter, and she had, besides, so many neighbors whom 
she did not wish to leave. So she thought she would 
let the little brook sing her to sleep and then she 
would feel more like work afterwards. 

As for Miss Bossie, she declared the water in the 
brook never tasted sweeter than it did after she had 
heard what Mother Owl had told her. 





C®l)p3l£iht SporrotD is so inquiisititie 


^ said Mother Owl one day, “I know what 
-I- makes Jake Sparrow so inquisitive. Jake is 
dressed in a very pretty gray and brown suit that is 
always becoming to him, and I suppose he thinks he is 
not seen very much when he goes prying into other 
people’s business, but he is. I think I won’t have time 
now to tell about it, for I must get ready for a big 
dinner tomorrow.” 

Mother Owl flew away, and several of her neighbors 
who were having a fine time under that tree all felt 
sorry that she had to go. They called after her, but 
all she answered was that she would be back in about 
an hour. 

Sure enough when she did return to that tree they 


WHY JAKE SPARROW IS SO INQUISITIVE 


were all waiting for her, excepting Jack Coon, who 
said he knew all about Jake Sparrow that he cared to 
know, and he had never forgotten the time Jake came 
prying round and looked into his house. Now Jack 
thought such actions from a little bird like Jake Spar- 
row showed very bad manners indeed. 

“All ready,” said Mother Owl, and all sat down to 
listen. 

“There was a time when Jake Sparrow’s folks were 
not nearly so inquisitive as he is now; but that is not 
his fault. He is doing only what has been handed 
down to him from his ancestors. 

“Once upon a time Mother Earth planned a big 
Thanksgiving feast for her children. I don’t know 
how many were invited, but it certainly was a large 
number, all the way from old Mr. Bear and his family 
on down to the Sparrow and others of their size. 
There were a great many birds from everywhere, as 
well as Father Frog and his relations. 

“Well, the feast was all ready and everybody sat 
down. Such a heap of good things! My, it would 


WHY JAKE SPARROW IS SO INQUISITIVE 


take a long, long time to name over all those things. 
So everybody was waited upon by Mother Earth. She 
passed them everything she had on her table, and my, 
my! how that company did eat. Old Father Bear 
couldn’t get enough meat and honey, and he licked 
the platters clean. Your great-great-grandfather 
couldn’t get enough lettuce and cabbage, Peter Rab- 
bit. He ate so much he was almost sick. And so it 
went all along that table. I am almost ashamed to tell 
what my own folks ate. Mother Earth whispered to 
Grandmother Nature that she was afraid that crowd 
would eat her out of house and home. 

“Grandmother Nature told her not to worry, for she 
had her eyes on that crowd and would see that they 
didn’t eat too much. Well, what do you think*? 
Everybody ate so much that they wondered if there 
was any more left in Mother Earth’s cupboard. Of 
course, after eating so much they were ashamed to ask 
her. A few whispered to each other about it, and 
finally Mr. Sparrow thought he would go and see. 

“This Sparrow, whose name was Jake, too, got up 



‘MR. SPARROW THOUGHT HE WOULD GO AND SEE’ 


WHY JAKE SPARROW IS SO INQUISITIVE 


from the table and hopped over to Mother Earth’s 
cupboard door. Everybody was looking right at him, 
and Mother Earth winked at her Grandmother, but 
she didn’t say a word. She thought she would watch 
Jake and let him learn a lesson, if he could, right there. 
Just as Jake looked into the cupboard Mr. Blue Jay, 
who had been wiping his bill on Mother Earth’s table- 
cloth, yelled ‘Greedy! greedy!’ Everybody laughed, 
but they felt rather foolish, for they knew they had 
been as greedy as anybody else. Moreover, they felt 
they were the cause of Jake’s going to that cupboard. 
They felt so foolish finally that they all got right up 
from that table and hurried home. Jake Sparrow 
stayed, for he thought Blue Jay had said ‘Greedy’ to 
the others instead of him, and he never has been told 
differently to this day. 

Of course Mr. Blue Jay was not polite or he never 
would have wiped his bill on Mother Earth’s table- 
cloth. It may be that he had never been taught better, 
poor fellow. 

“After the rest were gone, Jake Sparrow hopped off 


WHY JAKE SPARROW IS SO INQUISITIVE 


the cupboard door and went back to the table where 
Mother Earth was having the dishes cleared away. 
Having looked into the cupboard, Jake now thought 
it would be funny to see what each guest had eaten. 
So he went around and looked into each one’s empty 
plate. Old Father Bear’s dish was so tall that Jake 
had to give a jump to the top of it; but he saw many 
queer scraps in old Father Bear’s dish and it made him 
want to go round and look into everybody else’s. 

It is a great deal easier to form the habit of mind- 
ing other people’s business than it is to break such a 
habit when once we have been so foolish as to form it. 

“Jake Sparrow never did get over that habit of 
going round and looking into things. His children 
have been that way ever since that big dinner and I 
suppose they always will be.” 

Mother Owl laughed several times whenever she 
thought of what Blue Jay had said and she almost for- 
got that she had seen Peter Rabbit and Jimmy Skunk 
sneaking away when she began to tell about what some 
of the guests ate at that dinner. Some of the others 


WHY JAKE SPARROW IS SO INQUISITIVE 


were acting as if they would much rather get away. 

“Hoo, hoo!” she laughed to herself, “they were 
afraid I might tell them more about what their great- 
great-grandparents ate at that dinner. It wouldn’t be 
any credit to any of them to hear about it, so I don’t 
blame them.” 




3 ack Coon and tfje TLi5^mg5 

A THUNDER STORM had come up that after- 
noon and then it grew very dark. All the 
people of the forest were alarmed and ran home. 
Mother Owl and her children hurried to an old hol- 
low tree. Jack Coon felt that he was safe from the 
loud thunder and the bright flashes of lightning, but 
the wind rose and blew so hard that he was sure his 
home would be blown down. Then came an awful 
crack of thunder, for the tree of Jack Coon’s house had 
been struck by lightning. 

Jack had been lying in a hollow limb as far up as 
he could climb) and the lightning had struck near the 
top on the opposite side, tore off great pieces of bark, 
and then went into the ground. How he did tremble 
before this had happened, but now he was so badly 



JACK COON AND THE LIGHTNING 


shocked that he could hardly move for several minutes. 
When he recovered he felt sure he ought to leave that 
tree. It was not at all pleasant to be in such a place 
in a bad storm. Poor Jack Coon! He could hardly 
climb down. 

Now it was fortunate that Mother Owl and her 
babies were not far away in another hollow tree. 
Mother Owl knew that Jack’s tree had been struck 
and she was very much worried about him. It was 
still raining and the wind was blowing when she 
looked out of a hole and saw Jack staggering as he 
came down his tree, looking first to one side and then 
to the other. Poor Jack ! She watched him and hoped 
he would come over to her tree for shelter. Sure 
enough he did turn that way, and then she called him 
up- 

Jack Coon was yet shaking when he climbed inside 
the tree where Mother Owl and her family were safe. 

“Art you hurt,” she asked. “But of course you are 
not, I know. You are just scared, that’s all. But it 
was a narrow escape.” 


JACK COON AND THE LIGHTNING 


Jack Coon felt that he would much rather not talk 
with all that loud thunder roaring and lightning flash- 
ing. But he realized there was no use to worry, and 



“SURE ENOUGH HE DID TURN THAT WAY” 


perhaps Mother Owl could help him find a better 
place. 

“ril tell you, Jack, this has been a bad storm and I 
am wondering what has become of all our neighbors. 
I hope they are safe.” 

Another loud peal of thunder came. 


JACK COON AND THE LIGHTNING 


“That was an awful bolt of thunder that struck my 
house,” said Jack as he looked out at the swaying 
tree tops. 

“No, Jack,” answered Mother Owl, “you are mis- 
taken. It is not the thunder that strikes; it is the light- 
ning. Now listen. The thunder is just the sound of 
the lightning as it moves so swiftly through the air. 
Two clouds go toward each other in the sky and each 
of these clouds is charged with opposite electricities — 
one positive and the other negative. When these 
clouds are a certain distance apart they rush together 
with a flash. This flash is the lightning. Sometimes 
you can see it in the sky and it looks like a long, bright 
line, and then we call it chain lightning. But when 
you see it in the sky and it looks like broad flashes 
then we call it sheet lightning, and is caused by reflec- 
tions from chain lightning higher up. The reason it 
comes to the earth and does damage is because objects 
below attract it from the clouds.” 

There was another loud report and a bright flash. 
The lightning had struck somewhere. Jack Coon 


JACK COON AND THE LIGHTNING 


crawled up as far as he could in the tree and hid his 
face; but Mother Owl and her children waited for the 
rain and wind to cease. It was not long before a ray 
of bright sunshine told them the storm was over. 
Mother Owl called Jack and then went out to find her 
neighbors. They were all safe. But Jack Coon stayed 
in his hiding place for a long time before he was brave 
enough to come out. 




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4 



REDDY FOX AND THE CATERPILLAR 



R eddy fox was walking through the woods 
one day. He was grinning to himself and 
thinking of the fine supper he would have that even- 
ing over by the pond where Mrs. Quack and her 
family had been spending a few days. All at once 
Reddy stopped short and stood very still. He wasn’t 
listening, but there was something on a leaf in front 
of him, a very queer looking worm with hair all over 
its back. Now Reddy had often seen that kind of a 
worm before, but for the life of him he could not have 
told what it was. And on looking closer he saw that 

this woolly worm was devouring a leaf, 

3 


REDDY FOX AND THE CATERPILLAR 


“What a queer looking thing you are,’’ he said, but 
the worm kept right on eating. 

Then Reddy looked up. 

“My! my! if there isn’t a tree almost stripped of its 
leaves. Too bad, for it was such a pretty tree.” 

Reddy couldn’t help thinking about that strange, 
woolly worm as he passed on up the hill to wait for 
darkness so he could make that call on the Quack 
family. 

Reddy was dozing or else thinking real hard when 
Mother Owl flew into the tree right over his head. 

“Hello, Reddy! a fine evening it is,” she said. 
Mother Owl knew right away why Reddy was there. 

Reddy Fox felt so guilty that he could hardly say 
a word, and just then he thought about the woolly 
worm that he had seen eating the leaf. He didn’t 
really care so much to know what the woolly worm 
was as he did to have Mother Owl tell a story. If 
she would only tell a story she might forget to ask 
where he was going and what he was waiting for. 
So Reddy Fox tried to appear as unconcerned as pos- 


REDDY FOX AND THE CATERPILLAR 


sible while he asked Mother Owl what a woolly worm 
was. 

“A woolly worm?” exclaimed Mother Owl. ‘The 
idea, Reddy! What makes you ask such a question 
as that?” 

Reddy Fox didn’t dare laugh, for if he had Mother 
Owl would have known right off that he did not care 
to know what that worm was. 

“Well, I saw one this afternoon,” he answered, 
looking up at her, “and it was eating a tree.” Reddy 
Fox felt foolish to be asking about woolly worms. 

“Eating a tree? Oh, Reddy Fox, you are mis- 
taken, this woolly worm was a caterpillar eating 
leaves. Hoo, hoo, hoo!” laughed Mother Owl. “I 
see I’ll have to explain to you what a caterpillar is. 
A caterpillar will some day be a moth or butterfly, as 
the case may be.” 

“How funny!” exclaimed Reddy, showing his 
teeth. 

“Not at all funny,” she answered. “It is just one 
of the ways Grandmother Nature has of taking care 


REDDY FOX AND THE CATERPILLAR 


of her children. This woolly worm or caterpillar 
hatches from the egg in about a week or ten days after 
the egg was laid. A caterpillar is very greedy and 
as soon as hatched it begins to eat as fast as it can. 
It eats so much that it has to change its skin in a few 
days to grow larger. A great many caterpillars change 



“REDDY FOX WAS THINKING” 


their skins about five times. Think of it, Reddy, of 
anybody having to change their skin so they can get 
bigger.” 

Reddy Fox was thinking. It was one of the most 
wonderful things he had ever heard tell of. 

“When the caterpillar has grown just a certain size 


REDDY FOX AND THE CATERPILLAR 


Grandmother Nature tells it to make a bed, and the 
caterpillar obeys her. It takes some silk out of its 
pocket and weaves a pretty bed with nice covers and 
then goes to bed all covered up. Just as soon as this 
caterpillar can change its skin once more it gets into 
a queer-looking shell or case and is then ready to get 
out of its bed of silk. No, you never could tell, 
Reddy Fox, that this strange little case had any life 
at all in it when you look at it. 

‘Tut things are not always as they look, Reddy 
Fox, and inside of that little shell or case this cater- 
pillar is very busy putting on a pair of wings just as 
Grandmother Nature told it to do, so it will look just 
like its mother and father. In a short time, some- 
times within a few weeks and sometimes not for sev- 
eral months afterwards, this shell begins to open. It 
cracks, and then what do you think? Why out comes 
a full grown butterfly or moth! Its wings are not 
very large at first, but in a few hours this young fel- 
low’s wings are all ready for flying. Strange, isn’t 
it?” 


REDDY FOX AND THE CATERPILLAR 


Reddy Fox could hardly believe it. But Mother 
Owl kept on talking, and Reddy Fox was so inter- 
ested that he did really forget that he had planned a 
trip to the pond that night. I think she did it on 
purpose, don’t you? 




Bunr^Cattontaife Rattle-box 


B unny cottontail was very, very young 

when he left home and ran to a thicket of shrub- 
bery. It was one of the best places that any little 
rabbit ever saw for hiding, and Bunny felt as if he 
would like to make himself a ‘"couch” and stay there 
a long time. 

Things might have been different if Bunny had not 
heard a very peculiar noise like a rattle box close by. 
He thought it sounded very funny, and the idea of 
having a rattle box which sounded by itself every day 
was a thing that pleased Bunny very much. As Bunny 
was very timid and young he never tried to think what 
that strange rattling sound was. It was over to one 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL’S RATTLE-BOX 


side of him about a yard away behind a small stump. 

Soon Bunny thought he would go and find his 
brother Peter and have him come to hear his rattle box, 
as he called it. Bunny ran as fast as he could to the 
clover patch but Peter was not there. He went all 
over the woodland, but Peter could not be found, for 
he did not know that his brother was at that very min- 
ute helping himself to the good things in the farmer’s 
truck patch. 

You see the mothers of little rabbits do not teach 
them that they must not take things that do not 
belong to them. Peter Rabbit had never even heard 
that it is wrong to steal. 

Bunny stopped under a tree to think. Oh, how he 
did wish his brother could hear his fine rattle box. 
And I do believe he would have gone to sleep right 
there if he had not heard a sound up in the tree. 

‘‘Oh, ho! Bunny Cottontail,” said Mother Owl, for 
it was she, and she had been watching Bunny ever 
since he started out to find his brother. “I know 
who you are looking for. I am ashamed of your 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL’S RATTLE-BOX 


brother to think where he is right this minute. What 
do you want to see him for?” 

Now Bunny was so afraid at first that he had a mind, 
to run away and hide, but he knew this was Mother 
Owl, for Peter had told him about her. Instead of 



“OH YOU FOOLISH LITTLE RABBIT, DON’T YOU KNOW 
WHAT YOUR RATTLE-BOX IS?” 


running away, then. Bunny sat down and told Mother 
Owl everything. 

‘Uh, you foolish little rabbit,” said Mother Owl, 
‘‘don’t you know what your rattle box is? Well, it is 
a rattlesnake that lives in that patch of shrubbery. I 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL’S RATTLE-BOX 


know him. He is a dangerous fellow to be with. The 
rattle box you heard was nothing but this rattlesnake’s 
tail, which is made up of a number of loosely connected 
rings of a horny, bony material. It is sometimes said 
that the number of rattles on a rattlesnake’s tail shows 
how old he is, but it is not true. 

“The rattlesnake sheds his skin more than once a 
year, and every time he does so Grandmother Nature 
gives him another rattle to put on his tail. Nobody 
knows why he needs a rattle box like that, but he uses 
it for several things, and he can warn people to stay 
away from him. He seems to know that he is danger- 
ous. Whenever we hear of a rattlesnake having eight 
or ten rattles it just shows that he has shed his skin 
that many times, and he might be either four or five 
years old with that many rattles.” 

Bunny Cottontail was shaking, for he began to 
think of that rattle box. After hearing what it was 
he did not wish to be near one again, 

“Wait, Bunny,” said Mother Owl, “and I will tell 
you a few more things about this rattlesnake. When 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL’S RATTLE-BOX 


cold weather comes he goes to some place under the 
ground. Often he likes a big cave and goes there to 
spend the winter, and has company. Sometimes he 
goes into the home of the prairie dog and lives. One 
of my cousins often lives in a hole with a rattlesnake, 
but, oh, oh, I don’t think I would like to do that. He 
is too ugly and such a bad fellow. 

“Now, Bunny Cottontail,” whispered Mother Owl, 
“you know as much about this rattlesnake as you need 
to know, and I would advise you to have nothing to 
do with him or his rattle box. You might find your 
brother Peter at the truck patch, but I wouldn’t advise 
you to go there, either, for there is a hound who lives 
there. He might catch you, for he can run very 
swiftly, and he will catch your brother some of these 
days as sure as I am Mother Owl.” 

“Thank you. Mother Owl. I think I will go over 
to Peter Rabbit’s favorite clover patch* and wait.” 
Bunny Cottontail went hopping away. 

“Well, well,” said Mother Owl to herself, “I am 
glad I had a chance to tell this little rabbit about the 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL’S RATTLE-BOX 


old rattlesnake. Perhaps he will tell somebody else, 
too, so they can watch out for that rattle box in the 
shrubbery. And Bunny Cottontail will have to learn 
that things are not always as they seem.” 

'‘He and other little children must learn to take care 
of themselves, for not all things that are dangerous 
give warning before they strike. 

"The rattlesnake is a very bad fellow, but he always 
gives one a chance to get out of his way.” 




l^elping iDontij (^cadoto flpouge 


P ETER RABBIT went liperty-lip, liperty-lip to 
the tree where Mother Owl lived, and you could 
see that he was almost ready to cry. He leaned 
against the tree and looked up to see if Mother Owl 
were there. 

Mother Owl knew right away that Peter Rabbit 
had something to tell her when she looked out of her 
door and saw him coming. 

“What is it, Peter Rabbit?” she asked, coming 
down a limb or two. 

“Oh, Mother Owl, it is dreadful the way they are 
treating poor Danny Meadow Mouse.” Then Peter 
broke down and cried so hard that Mother Owl had 
to wait until he sobered up. Peter loved Danny 


HELPING DANNY MEADOW MOUSE 


Meadow Mouse, and anything that disturbed him was 
almost sure to affect Peter also. 

“Something ought to be done about it,” Peter went 
on, “and I came over to ask your advice. I have asked 
several, but none of them knows what can or ought to 
be done.” 

“Hoo, hoo!” said Mother Owl, “it is just as I 
thought, that somebody would be picking on Danny 
Meadow Mouse. Now, Peter Rabbit, tell me right 
off what the trouble is.” 

“They say Tommy Woodchuck has been stealing 
Danny’s corn. Sometimes he goes right out and takes 
it no matter who is looking, and sometimes he hides 
when Danny is going by and then jumps out, knocks 
Danny over, and runs off with the corn.” 

“Well, Peter Rabbit,” said Mother Owl, looking at 
Peter very closely, “you did not see this? Some one 
told you? It may not be true if somebody else said 
so.” 

“I think there is no doubt about it. Mother Owl. 
I once heard Danny crying myself, and just a while 


HELPING DANNY MEADOW MOUSE 


ago I saw him running home as fast as he could. I 
asked him then what the trouble was, but all he could 
says was ‘Tommy Woodchuck, Tommy Woodchuck!’ ” 

'"Then it must be true,” Mother Owl answered. 
“I’ll look into this, Peter Rabbit, and I’ll see to it 
this evening.” 

Mother Owl went back to her house to get ready. 
Peter Rabbit ran all over the neighborhood telling his 
best friends that something was going to happen. 

Just after sundown Mother Owl flev quietly over 
to a large bush close to the home of the Meadow Mouse 
family. It was not far from the home of the Wood- 
chucks. She saw the road along which Danny Meadow 
Mouse had to go to his corn, and she found it was 
very lonely. After looking closely for several min- 
utes she found the very spot where Tommy Wood- 
chuck usually lay in wait for Danny. It was at a 
sharp turn of the road and Tommy Woodchuck had 
been hiding behind a big clod of dirt with weeds 
around it. Of course, when Danny Meadow Mouse 
went by with his sack of corn on his back Tommy 


HELPING DANNY MEADOW MOUSE 


Woodchuck would always find it easy to run out and 
grab the corn. Besides, there was no other way that 
Danny could reach his corn except by going along this 
road, and it was either run the risk of being robbed or 
else starve. 



“TOMMY WOODCHUCK HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF POOR DANNY’^ 


Mother Owl had not long to wait before she saw 
Tommy Woodchuck sneaking along toward his hiding 
place to wait for Danny Meadow Mouse. ''It is just 
as I had expected,” she said to herself, "Tommy 
Woodchuck has the advantage of poor Danny.” 

It seemed a long time before the Meadow Mouse 


HELPING DANNY MEADOW MOUSE 


put in an appearance. When he was first observed 
he was going very slowly and crying softly to himself. 
Then he would turn and scamper back home. Soon 
he would come out again, and the voice of Mrs. 
Meadow Mouse was heard telling him not to be 
afraid. At last he ran as fast as his legs could carry 
him past the place where Tommy was hiding, and 
Tommy seeing him go by knew that he would soon be 
back with his little sack of corn. Tommy lay closer to 
the ground and chuckled to himself. 

It was so long before there were any signs of life 
round there after Danny Meadow Mouse had gone 
by that Mother Owl began to wonder if he had not 
gone home some other way. And nothing could be 
seen of Tommy Woodchuck, for he was lying so close 
to the ground. Very soon the voice of Danny Meadow 
Mouse was heard saying, ‘Dh, Tommy, please, please 
don’t take my corn,” and then he would run until he 
would fall with his sack. 

Tommy Woodchuck was waiting, and so was 
Mother Owl. She was watching both Danny and 

4 


HELPING DANNY MEADOW MOUSE 


Tommy, but Tommy was looking only for that sack 
of corn. Poor Danny Meadow Mouse was shaking 
when he came to the place where he had been robbed 
so much, and when he got there, sure enough Tommy 
rushed out to grab the sack of corn. Mr. Meadow 
Mouse held on tightly to his sack and Tommy could 
not get hold of it as easily as he had imagined. So 
when Tommy found that he could not get the sack 
as quickly as he wished he struck poor Danny Meadow 
Mouse a hard blow on the head and knocked him over. 

‘‘Now Fve got the corn,” Tommy was saying, “and 
ril hurry home and take my fill before bedtime.” 

“I think ril take a hand in this,” said Mother Owl. 
She swooped down upon Tommy so quickly that he 
dropped his corn and tried to escape, but he could 
not get away. She took hold of him and rose in the 
air. 

“Now ril teach you how to rob Danny Meadow 
Mouse,” said Mother Owl on the way home with 
Tommy in her talons. Tommy knew what was com- 
ing and began to wiggle and squirm so much that she 



“SHE TOOK HOLD OF HIM AND ROSE IN THE AIR” 


could hardly hold him. In fact she soon found that 
he was slipping from her feet. . She hurried to get 


HELPING DANNY MEADOW MOUSE 


home before Tommy got away from her, but just as 
she was crossing the brook close to the tree where she 
lived Tommy fell from her talons into the water. 
Tommy got very wet, but he swam out as quickly as 
possible. Mother Owl was still hunting him. He ran 
under the roots of an old stump, and so was safe. 

Mother Owl called after him. ‘'Now, Tommy, if 
you will promise never to rob Danny Meadow Mouse 
again I’ll let you go.” 

And from behind those stump roots she heard 
Tommy say, “Yes, Mother Owl, I’ll never disturb 
him any more, but I’ll get my living honestly.” 

Mother Owl went home feeling pleased, and 
Tommy, having lost some of his pretty fur where 
Mother Owl took hold of him, was a sadder but wiser 
Woodchuck after that. 




051)0 <Cf)reti> lf)at ^pple^ 


iiT'LL declare,” said Mother Owl to her children 
A after she came home, “I was greatly amused a 
while ago. Somebody threw an apple at Peter Rabbit 
and Jimmy Skunk, or at least they thought somebody 
did. 

“I had gone over to the old apple tree to look for 
a mouse. After looking round a while I flew very 
quietly to a high limb of the apple tree. The weeds 
were so thick that I did not think Peter and Jimmy 
were there at all, they were so quiet. Planning mis- 
chief, I suppose, and didn’t want anybody to hear. I 
was in the act of scratching my head with my toe when, 
chump ! down went an apple to the ground, and right 
away I heard the voices of Peter Rabbit and Jimmy 


WHO THREW THAT APPLE 


Skunk. That apple had fallen right on Peter and 
made him yell, and Jimmy began to offer sympathy. 

“Then Peter Rabbit asked, ‘Who threw that apple?’ 
and Jimmy answered, ‘I don’t know, Peter. Too bad, 
did it hurt?’ 

“I just couldn’t stand it a bit longer, and I almost 
fell off that limb, I was so amused. I had lots of fun 
joking Peter and Jimmy about somebody throwing 
that apple. Jimmy thought I had thrown it, but Peter 
believed some man did and wondered how it came 
to fall from the tree. Just then I saw the farmer com- 
ing out of his house with his gun, and I told Peter and 
Jimmy to come over here and I would tell them all 
about it. Well, dear me! if here don’t come Peter 
and Jimmy now. They must have run every step of 
the way.” 

It was true they were coming at a swift pace up the 
woodland path, talking to each other and Peter look- 
ing very foolish over being hit by the apple. They 
were at the tree in no time at all, and Mother Owl 
came down to the lowest limb to meet them. 


WHO THREW THAT APPLE 


“Now, Peter Rabbit, you and Jimmy are here. Did 
you go to that tree to get into some mischief?” asked 



“COMING AT A SWIFT PACE UP THE WOODLAND PATH^’ 

Mother Owl, turning her head sideways and looking 
down at them. 

Jimmy Skunk looked to the ground and couldn’t 
say a word. 


WHO THREW THAT APPLE 


“No, Mother Owl, we didn’t; did you?” asked 
Peter. 

Mother Owl was not expecting to be asked such a 
question. 

She said, “No, Peter, but Pll tell you some time why 
I was there.” 

“You promised to tell us who threw that apple,” 
said Peter. 

“Yes, I did,” she began, “and Pll now explain to 
set your minds at rest. I didn’t throw that apple and 
neither did anybody else. It fell off the limb when I 
was going to scratch my head.” 

“The idea!” exclaimed Peter. “Then you knocked 
it from the limb and it fell on my back?” 

“Partly, Peter; but the apple fell because it was 
ready to fall. Now, listen. There was once a man by 
the name of Newton, who had an experience with an 
apple just like you had a while ago, Peter Rabbit. He 
saw one fall to the ground, or it fell on his head, I 
don’t know which, and it set him to thinking. I can’t 
imagine anybody could think much after being hit on 


WHO THREW THAT APPLE 


the head by a big apple falling from a tree. But Mr. 
Newton did. He sat right down and thought it over.” 

“Phew!” said Peter Rabbit, rubbing his sore back 
and neck, “I don’t see how anybody could think.” 

Mother Owl had to turn her head away so she could 
close her eyes and laugh to herself. 

“Yes, this man Newton sat right down and thought 
it over. He saw that everything fell toward the earth 
whenever it had the chance, and he wondered why. 
Then he discovered that some power or force made 
that apple fall, and the farther it had to drop the 
harder it would fall. Say that apple fell only two 
inches, it wouldn’t strike hard. But if it fell from the 
top of the tree, it would be going rather fast by the 
time it reached the ground and so would strike harder. 
No wonder, Peter Rabbit, that apple hurt so when it 
struck your back, for it had to fall almost from the 
top of the tree.” 

Peter Rabbit opened his eyes very wide and stuck 
his ears up straight. “Then this man Newton makes 
the apples fall,” he said. 


WHO THREW THAT APPLE 


Even Jimmy Skunk laughed, though he felt guilty 
to think he had gone to that tree for no good. > 

“No, no! Peter,” answered Mother Owl, bending 
over so Peter could understand better. “It is Grand- 
mother Nature who arranged that things should fall 
toward the earth. It is what is called attraction, for 
the earth draws' things to it.” 

Peter Rabbit was beginning to understand, but he 
could hardly keep still. “Why don’t you fall. Mother 
Owl, then when you are in the air?” he asked. 

“Because I have wings to keep me up,” she an- 
swered. 

Peter Rabbit said “Oh,” and went away liperty- 
lip, liperty-lip to ask Father Frog a few questions. 
Jimmy Skunk stole away to a hole nearby and did not 
come out again until he got over feeling so guilty. 




IBljat !^appeiiedtoConj Rat 




ONY BARN RAT was always in trouble. Now 


X this was not strange, for Tony had a great appe- 
tite and he liked to eat better than anything else in 
the world. Tony was so greedy that he took to steal- 
ing because he could not get enough to eat any other 
way, and, moreover, Tony never would work for his 
food and get it honestly. 

The farmer set traps for Tony, sent the dogs after 
him, and put out poison, but Tony was always able 
to get away to his hole without ever being caught. 
How he did laugh to see how he fooled those who tried 
so hard to catch him. 

One evening Tony Barn Rat went out hunting. He 


WHAT HAPPENED TO TONY RAT 


had grown so tired of eating wheat and corn and things 
like that, and he wanted something different. He 
thought of the farmer’s chicken coops where he remem- 
bered he had seen some pretty little yellow-legged 
chickens, and he started over there. Now that was 
very, very bad of Tony Barn Rat to think of taking 
away a pretty little chicken to eat, but Tony didn’t 
care. He had to go round a big shed and past several 
small trees to the chicken coop. Just as he got under 
one of these trees he looked up and saw something 
sitting on a limb. 

Now Tony Barn Rat likes to know what everything 
is, so he stopped and looked. He saw that it was a 
bird, but this bird had large eyes. 

“Ho, it must be what they call a screech owl,” he 
said. 

“I am not a screech owl,” answered the bird. “I am 
one of Mother Owl’s babies. I’m insulted, and you’ll 
have to pay for this, Tony Barn Rat, see if you don’t.” 

The young owl flew away, and Tony went on look- 
ing for the chicken coop. The coop was securely 


WHAT HAPPENED TO TONY RAT 


fastened, so Tony could never enter without gnawing 
in. He preferred to look for an easier way to get some- 
thing to eat, and so went down to the straw lot where 
he had heard Bob White whistling one day. Perhaps 
Mrs. Bob White had a few eggs in her nest that he 



“HE HAD HEARD BOB WHITE WHISTLING ONE DAY” 
could get, and, oh! how Tony Barn Rat’s mouth did 
water when he thought of eggs. There was nothing 
in the world he liked better. 

Sure enough, Mrs. Bob White was on her nest, and 
Tony had not the least bit of trouble to find her. 


WHAT HAPPENED TO TONY RAT 


Tony wondered how he could get Mrs. Bob White 
off her nest without making too much noise. He 
sniffed and sniffed and crept onward very cautiously. 
All at once he saw a dark shadow overhead. Then he 
felt a sharp pain in his back, and soon found himself 
being lifted up. It was Mother Owl who had been 
looking for him and had found him at last. 

“Hoo, hoo! Tony Barn Rat, I’ll teach you how to 
make fun of my children.” Mother Owl was fast 
sailing away with Tony towards the woods. ‘‘What 
made you call my baby a screech owl?- You good- 
for-nothing fellow, you will make a fine supper for my 
family.” 

Oh, how Tony’s back did ache. He shut his eyes 
and tried to think. He wondered and wondered how 
he could get away. He kicked and squirmed, tried to 
bite Mother Owl, and things like that, but it did no 
good. 

Mother Owl’s nest was in a big tree close to the 
brook, and when she got there she saw her children 
waiting for her. 


WHAT HAPPENED TO TONY RAT 


‘‘Oh, if you haven’t got Tony Barn Rat for us!” 
they cried, flapping their wings. 

“Yes,” answered their mother, “this is the fellow 
who called one of you a screech owl. Won’t he make 
a nice supper? 



“TONY HAD A HARD TIME TO FIND HIS WAY BACK HOME” 


She had to push her children aside so she could find 
room to come up with Tony. 

Here was Tony’s last chance to escape, and he was 
watching. Just as soon as Mother Owl laid him down 
he gave a big jump out of the nest and landed in the 



WHAT HAPPENED TO TONY RAT 


brook below. Poor Tony! He was almost drowned, 
but he didn’t lose his head, and he swam out the best 
he could. He could hear those owls crying about 
losing such a fine supper, and he saw Mother Owl her- 
self looking for him. He had barely time enough to 
reach the old stump where Tommy Woodchuck hid 
once after he was caught stealing Danny Meadow 
Mouse’s corn. 

Tony had a very hard time to find the way back 
home, but did find it at last after many strange adven- 
tures, and he never changed his ways a bit. 


r 




JACK COON GOES HUNTING 









Jack Coon’s Cail 


E verybody in the forest had been talking 
about it. They could not imagine how it came 
that Jack Coon had rings on his tail. Some of these 
little people of the forest had never seen Jack Coon 
for he usually went out hunting at night when they 
were asleep. Peter Rabbit and Jimmy Skunk both 
knew Jack well, for they sometimes went out together, 
but there were many others who did not know a thing 
about it. Jake Sparrow was so inquisitive once that 
he went to the home of Jack Coon and looked in the 
door of Jack’s house to see if he could tell what Jack 
looked like. Jake had a narrow escape, for Jack 
jumped at him, and Jake lost several feathers. 

5 


JACK COON’S TAIL RINGS 


Things went on this way until Mother Earth was 
really vexed with her children, and she threatened to 
punish them if they did not keep quiet about Jack 
Coon’s tail rings. 

Peter Rabbit became alarmed and told everybody 
they might find out if they would ask Mother Owl. 
She was the only one who knew and would probably 
tell if some one would ask her. So Jake Sparrow was 
sent to find out. 

Mother Owl was at home, but she was busy making 
plans for her own work, and she did not hear the light 
tap at her door until one of her babies called her 
attention to it. 

'‘Why, it’s Jake Sparrow,” she exclaimed when she 
looked out. "How do you do, Jake? Come right in.” 

But Jake would not go in. He wished Mother Owl 
would come out on her doorstep for a few minutes as 
he had something very important to ask her. 

"Dear me,” said Mother Owl, "I might have known 
better than to ask a little bird to come into my house. 
Now, what is it, Jake?” 


JACK COON’S TAIL RINGS 


“Oh, Mother Owl,” Jake began, “they have sent 
me here to ask you why Jack Coon has rings on his 
tail?’ 



“PETER RABBIT BECAME ALARMED” 


“Hoo, hoo!” laughed Mother Owl, “are you really 
meddling with Jack’s business?” 

“Oh, dear, no!” cried Jake. He was afraid to show 
where Jack had pulled out several feathers the time 
he went to look in. Jake felt as if Mother Owl knew 
all about it, and it made him feel foolish. 


JACK COON’S TAIL RINGS 


‘‘Well/’ said Mother Owl, opening her eyes very 
wide, “long, long ago, when Mother Earth found she 
had so many children that she could not give them 
everything they wanted as soon as they wished, she 
had to call on Grandmother Nature to help her. There 
was no end of things to be done. All her children 
wanted houses to live in, and she got them nice places 
just as soon as she could and gave them fine clothes. 
But Jack Coon was not satisfied. 

“Jack went round complaining about what he had 
to eat and said he looked like Old Mr. Bear’s little 
brother. Now Mr. Bear was so big and Jack so much 
smaller that it was not at all pleasant to be consid- 
ered a brother to Mr. Bear. It was just like being 
called a dwarf of the family. 

“Jack worried more and more about it each day, 
and he began to steal. He would steal anything he 
could get his hands on, robbing birds’ nests, and things 
like that. Jack does many other things, too, that it 
would not be pleasant to tell about. Well, Jack con- 
tinued to complain so much about looking like a dwarf 


JACK COON’S TAIL RINGS 


brother of Mr. Bear’s and about how common his 
clothes looked that Mother Earth finally turned the 
matter over to her Grandmother. 

‘‘Grandmother Nature knew right away what to do, 
for she knew Jack’s wishes a great deal better than 
Mother Earth did. She saw that Jack was growing 
worse and worse in his habits and that something 
would have to be done very soon about it. After talk- 
ing to Jack a while he told her he would do whatever 
she asked him to do if she would only make his 
clothes more beautiful. He didn’t want to be con- 
tinually taken for a brother of Mr. Bear’s, and espe- 
cially being called a dwarf bear. I don’t blame him 
a bit.” 

Jake Sparrow was so interested in what Mother Owl 
had been telling that he almost fell off the doorstep 
of Mother Owl’s house. 

“Watch out, Jake Sparrow,” warned Mother Owl. 
“You did not think old Grandmother Nature cared 
so much for her folks, did youT’ 

“Indeed, I never thought of it,” answered Jake. 


JACK COON’S TAIL RINGS 

“Well,” Mother Owl went on, “Grandmother 
Nature told Jack that she would make him forever 
different. She would make him so he would not 
resemble Mr. Bear so much, and that ought to be 


“TOLD HIM TO STAY AT HOME THROUGH THE DAY TIME” 

enough to ask for. Jack agreed to this, and Grand- 
mother Nature put several rings on his tail and told 
him to wear them in remembrance of her. He was 
pretty well satisfied with this, but still complained 



JACK CQON^S TAIL RINGS 


about being seen by other folks with those rings on 
his tail. 

‘'Grandmother Nature then told him to stay at home 
through the daytime and go out only of a night. This 
pleased Jack so much that he thanked her over and 
over for her splendid advice. Sometimes he goes out 
on cloudy days, but he likes to hide in a hollow limb 
away up in some tree until it grows dark.” 

“Oh, yes,” Jake spoke up, “I know where he stays.” 
Then he felt so foolish when he recollected how he 
lost his feathers that he told Mother Owl it was time 
for him to go. 

Mother Owl looked after Jake as he flew away to 
tell about Jack Coon’s rings. “That little bird would 
not believe that I know why he is so inquisitive, but 
I do,” she said. 





Billj j^oagum Jlmnted 


P erhaps if Billy ’Possum had not accepted the 
invitation to go along with Peter Rabbit and 
Jimmy Skunk he would not have had to faint. Billy 
has those spells, though, and they come on when he 
gets badly scared. 

Once upon a time Peter Rabbit and Jimmy Skunk 
planned a trip, just Peter and Jimmy. No one was 
to know a thing about it, not even Mother Owl, who 
knew nearly everything that ever happened anyway. 
Jimmy had promised not to tell, but Peter got to 
thinking about it and he decided that he might tell 
Billy ’Possum, and if Billy desired to go, too, why it 
would be all right. So Peter told Billy, and then 
Mother Owl heard of it. Not another soul knew. 


WHEN BILLY POSSUM FAINTED 


Now Mother Owl decided it would be best for her 
to watch and see what these three were up to. More- 
over, when Peter Rabbit and Jimmy Skunk got their 
heads together they seldom if ever changed their minds, 
and besides she could not even guess what this trip 
was that Peter and Jimmy had planned. It might be 
something that she ought to know about. 

She flew over to the small oak tree where Peter and 
Jimmy were to meet for the trip and hid herself under 
the thick leaves. Jimmy Skunk came first, and then 
Billy ’Possum. 

‘ J heard you were going on a trip,” said Billy, com- 
ing right up beside Jimmy, who was waiting for Peter, 
‘'and I thought I would go along, too. Peter invited 
me. 

Jimmy Skunk was very much surprised. “The 
idea!” he said, very crossly. “What made Peter tell?” 

Mother Owl, sitting very still among those oak 
leaves, knew that Peter Rabbit couldn’t keep a secret. 

“I have a right to go if I wish,” said Billy as he 
looked Jimmy straight in the eyes and frowned a little. 


WHEN BILLY POSSUM FAINTED 


Then Jimmy and Billy sat down together and tried 
to make the best of it. Soon Peter Rabbit came. 

‘'Now we are ready, I hope,” whispered Jimmy. He 
got up and went round by the side of Peter, and so 
all three trotted away for the trip. 

After they had got well out of sight Mother Owl 
flew from the oak tree and followed. “It is just as I 
had expected,” she said to herself. “They are making 
for the farmer’s truck patch. I’ll go to the old cherry 
tree as quickly as possible and see what they do. Peter 
Rabbit and Jimmy Skunk are enough to get into plenty 
of trouble without having Billy ’Possum for company.” 

Peter Rabbit was so busy telling about that truck 
patch that they were there in no time at all. He had 
been there once before, and, oh! such fine things he had 
found to eat. There were cabbages and lettuce for 
himself and lots and lots of good things for both 
Jimmy and Billy. That was one reason why he felt 
that he ought to invite Billy to go, too. It would have 
been selfish to have taken no one else but Jimmy. 

Peter knew right where to go in. It was at a hole 


WHEN BILLY POSSUM FAINTED 


where a picket had been broken. He went through at 
a jump, followed closely by the other two. Now, 
instead of sitting down to eat the good things at hand, 
Peter Rabbit began to run all over the truck patch. 



“PETER RABBIT WAS BUSY TELLING ABOUT THE TRUCK PATCH" 


because he wished his friends to know that he was 
well acquainted there. 

'‘Do be careful, Peter,” warned Jimmy Skunk. "Be 
sure you don’t get us into trouble. Is there a dog 
around?” 

"Mercy, yes!” Peter stopped short in his tracks. "I 


WHEN BILLY POSSUM FAINTED 


had almost forgotten about that hound. His name is 
Cracky. And run? Oh, say, Jimmy Skunk and Billy 
’Possum, that dog nearly caught me once. He gave 
me a hard race. I never will forget it.” 

This made the cold chills run down both Jimmy’s 
and Billy’s backs. Peter acted like he was sorry he 
had come. To remember that dog made him feel that 
he would much rather be at home. Jimmy Skunk went 
over to one corner and a hen began to cackle. Peter 
Rabbit sat very still and looked around, but Billy 
’Possum was not there. Suddenly an awful sound was 
heard. 

“Bow-wow-wow-wow-wow-wow!” It was that 
hound coming and looking for a place to jump the 
fence. Peter Rabbit made two leaps for the hole in 
the broken picket, and then out came Jimmy Skunk. 
Both of them went across the fields home, forgetting 
all about poor Billy ’Possum. Where was he? 

“Bow - wow - wow - wow !” Cracky had already 
jumped the fence and was tracking Peter Rabbit and 
Jimmy Skunk. He was not far from the hole in the 


WHEN BILLY POSSUM FAINTED 


broken picket when Billy ’Possum was just going 
through. Poor Billy! It was too late for him to get 
far. Cracky went right through that hole after Billy, 
and then Billy fainted. Yes, he just fell right over 
like he was dead. Cracky came up and smelt of Billy 
and wondered what he should do with him. 



“MERCY, YES, HIS NAME IS CRACKY” 


“I think,” said Cracky, “that this ’possum will make 
a fine dinner for somebody, so I’ll just carry him over 
to my house. I never did taste of ’possum meat in my 
life, but I think I’ll have a taste of this fine, fat fellow.” 

Cracky picked up Billy and started for the house 
with him. Just then there was a great flutter of hens 


WHEN BILLY POSSUM FAINTED 


from a tree in the garden. Cracky dropped Billy and 
ran to see what the trouble was, but it was nothing 
except an old hen who was so scared that she flew over 
and pushed several others off the roost. 

When Cracky came back to get Billy he saw some- 
thing flying away to the woods, and Billy was gone, 
too. Mother Owl had gone home, and Billy was only 
pretending that he was dead. How disappointed 
Cracky was ! He looked round in the weeds for Billy 
’Possum, but couldn’t find him. He never could 
understand where that ’possum went. But Billy knew 
that it had been a narrow escape for him, and he never 
could have been saved except by fainting. 




C®^g jlacK S>nipc>Billi?^olot^ 

ONG, long ago/’ said Mother Owl to her 
-L^ babies, '‘when Mother Earth and Grand- 
mother Nature were very busy giving their children 
everything they had asked for, Jack Snipe became very 
much dissatisfied with the short bill he had. It was 
discovered that Jack’s legs had been made too long, 
very much too long, to look well with so short a bill. 

"Of course. Jack was the one to be asked about what 
he desired, for Grandmother Nature never gives her 
children anything that would not be good for them. 
She knew what kind of bill would suit Jack the best 
of all, but that wasn’t the way she wished to do things. 
It was a great consolation to her to know that Jack 


WHY JACK SNIPE’S BILL IS SO LONG 


would some time want the very bill she desired him 
to have. 

'‘So they had a talk with Jack Snipe. ‘Now, Jack,’ 
said Grandmother Nature, ‘you wish a different bill, 
and I am ready to give you what you desire, but first 
you must tell me why you wish to change. And be 
careful, Jack, when you choose, and don’t select one 
that will not go well with your legs.’ 

“Jack Snipe looked at his legs a long time and 
thought it over. He knew he would much rather live 
around ponds and marshes than anywhere else, and 
that he liked tadpoles, worms and things of that sort 
the best of all. And it was so hard to find the good 
things to eat all on account of having so short a bill. 
A short bill would do very well for singing sweet songs 
like a canary, but Jack wasn’t that way. He knew 
he never would sing much; in fact, he had no desire to 
sing sweetly and so would never have need of a pretty 
little bill. He wished one that was rather long so he 
could get around in the mud with it without being 
compelled to put his head under water too often. 


WHY JACK SNIPE’S BILL IS SO LONG 


“Grandmother Nature said she would give Jack 
enough time to make up his mind, and Mother Earth 



“SUCH A BILL WOULD ENABLE HIM TO GO DEEP IN THE MUD” 

was in no hurry. Both desired that their children be 
happy and satisfied. 

“Finally the day came that Jack Snipe told Grand- 
mother Nature just what he wished. He wanted a 
long, narrow bill of the same shape and the color of 


WHY JACK SNIPE’S BILL IS SO LONG 


his legs. Such a bill would enable him to go as deep 
into the mud as he cared to go and would be plenty 
long for shallow water, too. Then there was some- 
thing else. Jack had found that it was very difficult 
to know what a thing was when he found it under the 
mud. If he could only see under the mud it would 
have been different; but he couldn’t, so he had to ask 
his grandmother about it. He told her that if she 
could change this he would be very happy. 

‘‘Grandmother Nature had an idea, and it was the 
very best she could do. She fixed up a bill with the 
tip arranged so that he could tell immediately what 
everything was under the mud the very instant he felt 
it with his bill. In this way it would save Jack much 
trouble about jerking out things he could not eat. 
Jack tried his new bill and found it to be just what 
he had been looking for so long. I suppose he was the 
proudest and happiest bird in the world. He has a 
very queer little song and a strange way of ducking 
his head when he walks; but I think it is one of Jack’s 
ways of thanking both Mother Earth and Grand- 


WHY JACK SNIPE’S BILL IS SO LONG 


mother Nature for all the blessings they have sent 
him.” 

Mother Owl had finished her story, but her babies 
were asleep. They were nearly ready to fly away, and 
they were dreaming about that. 





Bunni^ CoUoatail and the-^ 
Bumble Bee 


B unny cottontail, Peter Rabbit’s brother, 

couldn’t help it because he was stung by that 
bumble bee. A dog had been chasing him, and he ran 
into a briar patch and stopped, because he heard 
strange sounds ahead of him and that dog was behind 
tracking. That was why Bunny got stung, for he had 
stopped right by a bumble bee’s nest and was too busy 
just then wondering which way he should go. He 
dashed off to one side to get away from that bee and 
ran as fast as he could toward the wood. He had to 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL AND BUMBLE BEE 


run the risk either of being stung several more times 
or of giving that dog the chase of his life. 

That dog was found to be a very slow runner, and 
Bunny had to laugh as he glanced over his shoulder 
to see how far that dog was being left behind. But 
Bunny’s back was sore when he stopped under the oak 
tree where the little woods people often met. 

“Oh, my back!” he whined as he sat down to think. 
“I can’t see what good bumble bees are. If they 
couldn’t sting I would like them very well.” 

Mother Owl was sitting in that very tree among the 
leaves watching Bunny. “So you don’t think bumble 
bees are good for anything? Well, Bunny, you are 
mistaken. Listen.” 

Bunny Cottontail could hardly believe that bumble 
bees are good for a single thing on earth except to 
s tin g people, but he felt sure Mother Owl could tell 
him if they were. 

“Now listen. Bunny,” Mother Owl said once 
more as she came nearer the ground, “bumble bees are 
very useful. Just think of how much bumble bees do 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL AND BUMBLE BEE 


for the fields of clover as well as many other flowers. 
Did you ever hear of pollen?’’ 

Bunny Cottontail had never in his whole life ever 



^‘JUST THINK HOW MUCH BUMBLE BEES DO FOR 
A FIELD OF CLOVER” 


heard of such a word, but he tried to pretend that he 
knev/. 

“Well,” continued Mother Owl, “pollen is the fine 
dust that you see in the center of a flower. Some of 
this fine yellow dust placed in another flower of the 
same kind will make that flower produce fruit. It all 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL AND BUMBLE BEE 


comes about because Grandmother Nature and Mother 
Earth said they would help each other in getting 
everything ready for growing and bearing fruit. 
Mother Earth was to furnish the food and hold the 
plant while Grandmother Nature was to do the feed- 
ing and help the plant to make pretty flowers for 
Mother Earth’s dress. 

‘'So the flowers bloom and Grandmother Nature 
shows them how to get ready to bring forth fruit and 
seed. She knew that some of the flowers would not 
care very much whether they created seed or not, and 
in order to encourage them she told the bumble bees 
to get ready to visit the flowers. The bumble bees 
could hardly understand what Grandmother Nature 
wanted them to do this for until they found they could 
get some very fine honey from the flowers for their 
trouble. Then it was the easiest thing in the world 
for the bees to do, for everybody likes honey, as every 
little boy or girl knows. 

“Well, the flowers told Grandmother Nature that 
they would trade their honey to the bees, but they were 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL AND BUMBLE BEE 


tired of giving it all away. I can’t blame them. It 
would be ever so much nicer to trade for something. 
Grandmother Nature knew there was one thing the 
flowers would be glad to get and that was pollen. 
Sure enough it was. She told the bees. The bees said 



“OLD MR. BUMBLE BEE OFTEN SAYS HE CAN’T HELP GETTING 
POLLEN ALL OVER HIMSELF’ 

the flowers were always looking at each other and 
admiring each other’s pollen, and so here was the 
grandmother’s chance to do what she hoped to do. She 
would have the bumble bees carry pollen on their 
wings and legs when they went to the flowers. Now 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL AND BUMBLE BEE 


the bumble bee exchanges pollen among the flowers 
and they give him honey for his trouble. Old Mr. 
Bumble Bee often says he can’t help getting pollen all 
over himself when he goes to the flowers on account 
of the narrow spaces in which he has to go down for 
the honey in the flower cup. 

'‘He has told the flowers about it, but they only 
smile and smile, and he knows they never will change. 
I suppose they are satisfied with the way bumble bee 
trades.” 

Mother Owl was looking at a bright little flower 
right by the side of Bunny Cottontail. Bunny 
couldn’t see it for he was thinking of his sore back. 

"Never mind the sore back. Bunny,” she said. "You 
ought to be thankful it was a sore back instead of hav- 
ing the dog tear you to pieces.” 

"No, no. Mother Owl, that dog couldn’t catch any- 
thing. He is such a slow fellow.” 

"Remember, Bunny, that a bumble bee can sting so 
he can defend himself and his home. But suppose 
that dog had stepped into that bumble bee’s nest, do 


BUNNY COTTONTAIL AND BUMBLE BEE 


you suppose it would have made him run faster?’’ 
asked Mother Owl. 

But Bunny actually grinned a little and didn’t 
answer. He ran away to the clover patch. 




31 Visit to tj^e l^ome of tj^e (©asp 

4 ^7^ ELL, Johnny Blue Jay,” asked Mother Owl, 

V V ''what strange things have you seen on your 
travels this afternoon?” 

Johnny Blue Jay had been acting as if he had seen 
something he couldn’t explain. He was just getting 
ready for bed, and he didn’t really care to talk. But 
Johnny wiped his bill on a limb and looked up at 
Mother Owl, who was patiently waiting to hear what 
he was going to say. 

"Yes, Mother Owl, I was trying to see what Mrs. 
Wasp’s home looked like, but she drove me away and 
called me saucy and impudent. I saw a part of it, 
though. Do you know what it is?” 

"Indeed I do,” she replied with a wink of her eyes. 
"I know the Wasp family very well. But, goodness, 


A VISIT TO THE HOME OF THE WASP 


Johnny Blue Jay, it would take a long, long time to 
tell about them/’ 

Old Dame Blue Jay was anxious for her husband 
to come home, and Johnny knew it, but he said^ “Well, 
tell me about Mrs. Wasp and her home, and then I 
must be hurrying home or my wife will lock the door.” 

“Now listen closely, Johnny. Mrs. Wasp has a 
rather hard time of it. She has to build her own nest, 
feed her babies, and then, when autumn comes, she 
has to find a place to spend the winter. When she 
wakes up in the spring she knows she has a great 
amount of work ahead of her. She has been spending 
the winter under some rock or in the crevice of a tree 
or in some other place like that. When she comes out 
she hunts for a good place to make her home. Hav- 
ing found it she then goes to find some old wood and 
gnaws it off piece by piece, and chews up these little 
pieces until they are a pulpy mass. First, she make a 
tiny stem by which to hang the nest and then builds 
about three cells, and by the time it is done it is in 
shape something like a goblet turned upside down and 


A VISIT TO THE HOME OF THE WASP 


like gray paper in color and weight. It is all made 
from the wood pulp which she chews up so finely. 

“It is in the same way that men make paper, Johnny. 
Only they do not chew up the wood as the wasps do. 



“SHE HAS TO FIND A PLACE TO SPEND THE WINTERS” 

They have large machines that grind it up. They do 
not have to get tiny little scraps of wood either, but 
instead they cut down great forest trees and float them 
down rivers to the mills that grind them up. 


A VISIT TO THE HOME OF THE WASP 


“But, Johnny, I do believe he got the whole idea of 
paper making by watching Mrs. Wasp build her home. 
I was so interested in paper that I almost forgot that I 
had not finished telling you about Mrs. Wasp.” 

“She lays an egg in each cell and then closes them. 
While waiting for these eggs to hatch she continues to 
enlarge her house by adding more cells and laying 
more eggs. As soon as the first babies are hatched she 
must begin feeding them, and they require a great 
amount of food. She chews the food up well before 
they are allowed to have it, and sometimes it is small 
insects and sometimes honey. They continue to eat for 
about a month and then weave a silken covering for 
themselves, staying in it for ten days. 

“You see, Johnny, they go to bed, tucked up warm 
and nice, so that their wings and legs shall have time 
to grow. So Mrs. Wasp does not have to bother tak- 
ing care of her babies while she is so busy building her 
house and laying eggs. 

“I think she would have a very hard time taking 
care of so many babies when she is so busy. So I think 


A VISIT TO THE HOME OF THE WASP 


she is a very wise mother to put them to bed, don’t 
you? 

“The first wasps that are hatched in a nest are called 
‘neuters’ or workers, and when they have left the cells 
they are ready to go to work feeding the other babies 
and helping their mother build the house larger. All 
the empty cells that have held young wasps are 
cleaned out and then the mother lays another egg in 
each one. Wasps like fruit and do a great deal of 
damage by sucking the juices.” 

Johnny Blue Jay looked down, for he felt guilty, 
as he remembered that he had once been caught steal- 
ing cherries from the farmer. 

“I think,” he said as quickly as he could so Mother 
Owl wouldn’t notice his embarrassment, “that I have 
seen a wasp who builds her nest from mud, haven’t I?” 

“Indeed you have,” answered Mother Owl. “Some 
people call them ‘mud-daubers.’ They build their 
cells from mud and lay eggs in them. Then they catch 
a caterpillar and kill it and put it into the cell. The 
cell is then closed with mud. When the egg hatches 


A VISIT TO THE HOME OF THE WASP 


the young wasp feeds on the caterpillar until it hears 
Grandmother Nature tell it to get its wings and legs 
ready for going out into the world.” 

Johnny Blue Jay was nodding. When Mother Owl 
had finished he raised the feathers on his head, shook 
himself several times and flew away home to be 
scolded by his wife for being so late. But he thought 
it was worth a scolding to have learned all of these 
wonderful things about wasps and their homes, but he 
thought he would not tell Mrs. Blue Jay until next 
morning, because he knew she was tired and sleepy. 




I 





PETER RABBIT AND THE MOON 


peicr E^abbit anclil)e Ol^oon 

I T WAS the first time that Peter Rabbit had ever 
seen the moon. Now that was funny, but there 
were a number of things that came about to make it 
almost impossible for Peter to take notice of things 
as he had intended. By the time Peter had opened 
his little eyes after he was born, great banks of clouds 
had covered the sky and hid the moon. Then Peter 
and one of his brothers were chased by a hound and 
compelled to run to a cave and hide. They were very 
badly frightened, and they did not leave that cave 
for several days, for the hound was watching, or at 
least they thought he was. It was very hard to get 
away from that hound. 


PETER RABBIT AND THE MOON 


At last Peter and his brother did escape from the 
cave and roamed over the fields of clover, nibbling 
the sweet green leaves. Then they lingered that even- 
ing at an old farm gate, watching the eastern sky. It 
was growing very light, and as they watched, the 
moon, big and full, came up. 

Peter wondered what it could be, but he saw no 
one nearby who could tell him what it was. He w^s 
really afraid, for he had never heard about such things 
before. To make matters worse he ran off and left 
his brother and hid under a big bush over near the 
forest. 

“I can’t imagine what in the world it can be,” he 
said to himself. “Fm sure it can’t be the sun.” 

‘‘Hoo, hoo!” laughed Mother Owl, who was sitting 
in that big bush waiting for her supper. ‘'Now, Peter 
Rabbit, what is it?” 

Peter Rabbit was almost ready to run away again, 
when it came into his head that Mother Owl could tell 
him what he desired to know. 

“Oh, Mother Owl, why does the sun shine at night?” 


PETER RABBIT AND THE MOON 



“Yes Peter That is 
The Moon” 


asked Peter, sticking his head out 
to look at the moon, which was 
rising higher and higher. 

Mother Owl knew that Peter 
was very young, but she could 
not understand w^hy he had never 
seen the moon. Then Peter told 
her all about it, how the sky had 
been covered with thick clouds 
and how he had been compelled 
to hide in a cave from the hound. 

“Yes, Peter, that is the moon,” 
Mother Owl answered. 'It gives 
light to the world at night. Now 
listen, Peter Rabbit, very closely 
and I will tell you a few things 
about this moon. Of course, you 
may hear some one say that it is 
made of green cheese, but it is 
not. This moon is hard like the 
ground. When JVIother Earth 


PETER RABBIT AND THE MOON 


was born she was sent on a long, long journey around 
the sun. When anybody goes on a long journey they 
like to have company, and so it was with Mother Earth. 
She felt it would be very lonely to go around and 
around the sun without a companion, and so she asked 
Grandmother Nature. 

‘'Grandmother Nature always knows just what to 
do, and she always pleases us when she does some- 
thing. Well, she thought she would make the moon for 
Mother Earth’s friend and companion. Soon the moon 
was ready for the trips and Grandmother Nature put 
her out in the sky about 239,000 miles so Mother Earth 
could have plenty of room. 

“There was something else that Mother Earth 
desired, but she didn’t know what to do about it, and 
that was how she was going to carry this big moon, 
who is about 2,100 miles thick, along in her satchel. 
Mother Earth herself is very heavy and she knew that 
she would have all she could do to fly along through 
the pretty blue skies and take care of her own self. 
The sun was going to give her plenty of light and heat 



PETER RABBITAND THE MOON 


and make the trips as pleasant as possible for her. 
Then Grandmother Nature made a suggestion. She 
would give this moon power to go by itself and still 
it would never leave Mother Earth.” 

''Oh, oh, how funny!” cried Peter Rabbit, as he sat 
up very straight, stuck his ears forward and looked 
through the leaves at the moon. 

"Please don’t interrupt me, Peter,” cautioned 
Mother Owl. She knew Peter was very uneasy. 

"After the moon had power to go by itself along 
the side of Mother Earth, it was again discovered that 
it would be nice to have a change once in a while. 
Mother Earth again asked her grandmother to help 
her. This time they would have the moon travel some- 
times on one side and then on the other, sometimes 
behind and sometimes ahead. This was all very well, 
for undoubtedly Mother Earth would get tired of hav- 
ing her companion on just one side of her all the time. 
Grandmother Nature agreed to it and makes the moon 
go around Mother Earth in a circle once every month. 
Now there is something very queer about all this. 


PETER RABBIT AND THE MOON 


While the moon is going around Mother Earth it keeps 
its face toward her and never turns it away. And I 
don’t suppose it ever will.” 

Mother Owl rolled her eyes up toward the moon, 
but said nothing more for several minutes. Peter Rab- 
bit was hopping all around, just as if he would like 
to ask about something more. 

“I’ll tell you some time, Peter, about the sun and 
stars if I have the time and you can keep still long 
enough.” 

But Peter Rabbit just dropped his ears flat on his 
neck and went very, very swiftly across the fields to 
look for his brother and tell him what he had heard. 
And Mother Owl, left alone, went home without her 
supper. 




maliea tj)c Icatie^ j^een 

P ETER RABBIT and Jimmy Skunk had argued 
the whole day long. Peter had said the leaves 
were green because they tasted better than yellow 
ones. Jimmy didn’t eat leaves when he could find 
something else, but he felt sure he would like them 
just as well if they were some other color. Peter liked 
leaves and could often make a meal of them when they 
were nice and green, but he never could enjoy eating 
a brown one. Now Jimmy was fond of brown leaves 
because they made a good warm bed. Peter and 
Jimmy said many foolish things that day about green 
leaves, because they did not understand why the 
leaves were green. 


WHAT MAKES THE LEAVES GREEN 


Finally, Mother Owl heard of it. She was just 
going by looking for her supper when she spied Peter 
and Jimmy and heard what they were saying. 

“Why do you foolish children bother your heads 
about why the leaves are green,” she said so suddenly 
that Peter dodged under a bush because he was afraid. 
“No use to run, Peter, I won’t harm you. Come out 
and I’ll tell you and Jimmy why the leaves are green.” 

Peter and Jimmy were very anxious to have their 
dispute settled, and they knew that Mother Owl could 
tell if any one could. 

“When Mother Earth was very young,” Mother 
Owl began, “she could hardly decide just what color 
she wished to have her dresses. She was as particular 
then as anybody is nowadays about the same thing. 
She was very much taken back when some one told her 
that it would not do to have her dress mostly red or a 
bright yellow for they would make her look so old. 
Mother Earth didn’t know what to do. She asked 
several of her neighbors, but there was only one who 
would agree to help her in getting out the best colors, 


WHAT MAKES THE LEAVES GREEN 


and that was Mr. Sun. He had been giving her light 
and keeping her warm ever since she was born, and 
she felt that she ought to listen to what he said about 
this. 

‘‘Mr. Sun said that green would make her look 
young, and that was what Mother Earth desired. You 
know nobody likes to look old. He told her that she 
could put different shades here and there on her dress, 
such as red roses, pink flushes, blue seas, and golden 
leaves, for the sake of a change. Green was the very 
best of all for spring and summer. It would be nice 
to have browns and yellows for autumn, and, more- 
over, this green dress could be dyed to many beauti- 
ful shades. Mother Earth was delighted and finally 
agreed to this. She was to furnish the materials and 
Mr. Sun was to mix the colors. When she put the 
materials together Mr. Sun turned his light on it, and 
so they have the color of green. 

“Then, when she grows tired of green, the Sun 
helps her to get the beautiful colors of autumn. He 
makes the weather cooler so it will dye the green dress. 



MOTHER OWL TELLS PETER RABBIT AND JIMMY SKUNK 


WHY THE LEAVES ARE GREEN 


WHAT MAKES THE LEAVES GREEN 


First, it changes from green to golden and scarlet and 
then comes the brown shade for winter. She wears 
these shades for a time when Mr. Sun helps her once 
more to get the nice green dress which she likes the 
best of all. The leaves with which Mother Earth 
makes her dress have a peculiar kind of juice in them 
which the light from the Sun turns to the green shades. 
This peculiar coloring matter is called chlorophyll.” 

Mother Owl had finished and she waited to see 
whether Peter and Jimmy were convinced. But they 
sat staring at each other with very queer looks on their 
faces. 

“What’s the matter with you two children? Don’t 
you think I am telling you the truth?” asked Mother 
Owl. 

But Peter and Jimmy continued to stare at each 
other for about five minutes, and then they laughed. 

“Now that’s funny,” said Peter at last, “here I have 
been eating pieces of Mother Earth’s dress all my life 
and didn’t know it. They were just splendid, though, 
I am sure.” 


WHAT MAKES THE LEAVES GREEN 


“And I have been thinking,” said Jimmy Skunk, 
“that I have been using remnants of her dress to make 
my beds.” 

“Then you are both satisfied,” said Mother Owl, 
“or you ought to be if you are not.’^ 

But Peter turned and went liperty-lip, liperty-lip 
to look for his favorite patch of clover, and Jimmy 
rushed off home to tell his folks about the things he 
had heard. 




Ct^e ©rummer of tl)e fl&oadlmute 


i i^T^HUMP — thump — thump — thump — thump; 

X thump-rup-rup-rup-rup-r-r-r-r-r-r-r !” 

‘‘What in the wide world is that?” There were 
several who asked that question. 

Reddy Fox and Jack Coon, who heard them ask, 
smiled and turned their heads away, for they knew all 
about that sound, and Reddy was going to sneak over 
to where that drumming was going on. But he wanted 
to wait until no one was looking. 

Thump — thump — thump — thump; rup r-r-r-r-r-r-r ! 

The Rabbits had an idea they had better hide, and it 
was the first time Bunny had ever heard that sound. 

“Keep quiet,” said Chipmunk, who was listening; 


THE DRUMMER OF THE WOODLANDS 


but for the life of him he could not have told what it 
was, for he had forgotten. 

Jimmy Skunk came up, but Reddy Fox made an 
excuse to go because he said his wife was waiting for 
that piece of meat he had promised to bring home for 
supper. 

Still the strange sound continued at intervals. 
Mother Owl came out of her house and sat up very 
straight. She knew. 

“It is the first time I’ve heard one round here for 
some time,” she said to Chipmunk. 

“First what?” inquired Bunny Cottontail, who was 
very anxious to know what that sound was. 

“Why, that is the drummer of the woodland,” 
answered Mother Owl. “The farmer calls it a pheas- 
ant or ruffed grouse. It is called Ruffed Grouse 
because it wears a big feather bow or 'ruff’ around its 
neck. Did you ever see a hen with a top-knot? Well, 
the Ruffed Grouse looks something like that hen, 
except that the bunches of feathers are around its neck. 
It is Mr. Grouse that wears the largest ruff or feather 


THE DRUMMER OF THE WOODLANDS 


boa. His wife’s is smaller and sometimes she has none 
at all. 

“It is Mr. Grouse who does this drumming and — ” 
Thump — thump — thump — thump — rup ! 



“THE FARMER CALLS IT A PHEASANT OR RUFpED GROUSE” 


“Don’t run over there Peter Rabbit, you and Bunny, 
for I am sure Reddy Fox is sneaking round this very 
minute to catch Mr. Grouse,” said Mother Owl. “Yes, 
Mr. Grouse is calling his future wife, and this drum- 
ming is his love song. Isn’t that strange? The only 


THE DRUMMER OF THE WOODLANDS 


kind of song I ever sing is ‘Hoo-hoo, hoo,’ and Eve 
sung my children to sleep many a time with that. Now 
Mr. Grouse produces this sound, some say, by beating 
the air with his wings while he stands and holds very 
tightly to some perch. 

“Others say that he does it by striking his wings 
against his body. Or it may be that he strikes them 
against the perch on which he stands. He moves his 
wings very slowly at first and increases the speed until 
you can hardly see his wings at all. What strange 
drumming! It is nothing like what men use in brass 
bands. I heard a brass band once and it frightened 
me almost to death. I never was so glad in my life to 
get back to this old tree.” 

Mother Owl just then saw something stealing 
through the weeds toward the place where Mr. Grouse 
was drumming. 

“Oh, there goes Reddy Fox, but he will be disap- 
pointed, for Mr. Grouse just now flew up into a tree. 
Mrs. Grouse, while sitting on her eggs, looks so much 
like the grass and bushes in color that it is often diffi- 


THE DRUMMER OF THE ^VOODLANDS 


cult to know where she is. When she goes out hunt- 
ing with her babies she has a very peculiar way of act- 
ing, as if she was crippled. If anybody comes round 
where she and her babies are, she gives a warning and 
the babies hide. Then she will pretend that she is 
crippled, so you will leave her babies and follow her. 
The more you follow her the better pleased she is, for 
she knows that so long as you follow her you are going 
farther and father from her babies. When she thinks 
you have followed her far enough she flies up and 
sails away out of sight, and her babies are so well 
hidden that it is very hard to find them. They keep 
very still until they again hear her voice. My, my, 
but she is a good mother to those little dears, and she 
gets them everything good to eat.” 

Jimmy Skunk and Jack Coon began to laugh. 

‘Are you making fun of me^” asked Mother Owl. 

But Mother Owl was left alone. Jack and Jimmy 
said they had important business to 'attend to. The 
Rabbits were so nervous that they ran races to the 

clover patch, and from there it was plain to be seen 
8 


THE DRUMMER OF THE WOODLANDS 


that they would go to the truck patch. All the others 
had gone, too. 

'‘If anybody ever mocks me,” Mother Owl said, 
closing her eyes very slowly, “I would be inclined to 
treat them as I did the mocking-bird who tried to sing 
just like I do. That mocking-bird was making fun of 
me, so I drove him out of the woods. Fll have to tell 
about that some day. And I’ll catch that Skunk and 
Coon some time and teach them a few lessons. Skunks 
and Coons must learn how to behave in company. It 
makes me think of how Reddy Fox was meddling with 
Mr. Grouse’s business a while ago.” 




BSR 

0^otl)er ©res5 

M other owl had just awakened from a nap. 

She had heard an awful sound, the firing of 
guns and the barking of dogs. At first she couldn’t 
understand what was the matter, for such noises had 
seldom been heard in that woodland. She looked out 
of her door to see if she could see those hunters and 
whom they were hunting. 

‘I’ll bet poor Peter Rabbit or his Brother Bunny 
will suffer for this,” she said to herself as she looked 
at the trees which were covered with beautiful snow. 
“Snow is just what suits those rabbits, and I’m afraid 
they will be very careless how they make tracks so 
those hunters can track them.” 

Mother Owl was thinking she would much rather 


MOTHER EARTH’S WHITE DRESS 


take another nap when she saw something coming 
toward her tree. It was Peter Rabbit and close behind 
was his brother, Bunny Cottontail. Her tree was 
hollow almost to the top with a nice opening at the 
bottom, and she hoped they would come in. Her 
heart almost failed her when she saw Cracky, the farm- 
er’s hound, not far behind. My, my, how that hound 
could run! He was giving those rabbits the chase of 
their lives. Sure enough they did go into the hole at 
the foot of the tree, and then she knew that they were 
safe if they would climb. 

She could hear Peter call his brother and tell him to 
hurry up that tree. Bunny, poor little fellow, was 
climbing as fast as he could, for it was the first time 
in his life that he had ever climbed up the inside of a 
tree. How that hound did howl and bark! He knew 
his quarry had escaped, but he wanted his master to 
come and see. 

“Come up here,” said Mother Owl. She could hear 
the rabbits coming nearer and nearer. 

“Well, if here isn’t Mother Owl, Bunny,” ex- 


MOTHER EARTH’S WHITE DRESS 


claimed Peter, all out of breath. “I do hope we are 
safe here.” 

“Don’t worry, dears,” she answered, “this tree is 
too large to be cut down just for two rabbits.” 

“Oh, if it wasn’t for that snow,” whined Bunny, 
“we might not have been chased.” 

Just then voices were heard at the foot of the tree. 
The hunters had come up. They saw where the rab- 
bits had entered that hole and they knew the tree was 
too large to climb. “It’s no use,” one of them said, 
“those rabbits are beyond our reach.” Then the dogs 
howled and growled several times, pushed their noses 
in the hole, and finally left with their masters. Peter 
breathed easier and his brother sighed several times. 

Poor little fellow, this was a new experience to him, 
and it all frightened him very much indeed. You see, 
he did not know what to expect next. 

“Now, Bunny,” said Mother Owl, “you said some- 
thing about the snow. Don’t like snow^ Well, well, 
well, you will when you see more of it. Don’t com- 
plain, for Mother Earth might not like it. You see 


MOTHER EARTH’S WHITE DRESS 


it is her white dress, and Grandmother Nature thinks 
it is very fine.” 

Peter Rabbit frowned at his brother and then said 
he couldn’t get along without snow. He had had 



“BELOW 32, THEN THE FROST ELVES GET BUSY” 


oceans and oceans of fun in it, and he was sure Bunny 
would, too, when he had the chance. 

“Please explain to Bunny about Mother Earth’s 
white dress and her diamonds which she makes out of 





MOTHER EARTH’S WHITE DRESS 


water,” begged Peter, “for I never could explain it 
to anybody.” 

“Mother Earth gets a white dress every year. It 
does her and her children good to have a change, for 
they soon tire of green, and brown, and red, so Grand- 
mother Nature has made a plan of having the snow 
come at winter time. When the air begins to feel 
chilly, or according to the farmer’s thermometer, gets’ 
to a certain point that he calls ‘below 32 degrees,’ then 
the frost elves get very busy. You know that dew 
is a moisture that comes in the night on everything 
outdoors in the summer time, and when this is frozen 
it is called frost, all because the air is below 32 
degrees. Snow is frozen vapor or clouds which fall 
in the form of flakes, and such beautiful things snow- 
flakes are when you look at them closely. They 
resemble little stars, but are also a great many other 
shapes. Just think. Bunny Cottontail, how many of 
these snowflakes it takes to make Mother Earth a 
dress.” 

“My, oh, my!” said Peter, “isn’t that wonderful"?” 


MOTHER EARTH’S WHITE DRESS 


“And every snowflake is a little white fairy, isn’t 
it, Mother Owl?” 

“Yes,” said Mother Owl, “a very beautiful fairy 
which does many useful things, Peter.” 

There was another loud barking of that hound. 
Mother Owl looked out in time to see one of Peter 
Rabbit’s uncles run across the fields where there was a 
large rock pile in which he could hide. Peter closed 
his eyes until Mother Owl said his uncle was safe. 

“You’ll have to stay here,” said Mother Owl, “and 
wait till it grows dark. It won’t be safe for you to 
run any chances with that hound. I could tell you 
many, many other things about how Mother Earth 
prepares her cool drinks, but, oh, it would take so long, 
and perhaps we will have a chance another time.” 

The sun had gone down and darkness was setting in 
when Peter and Bunny slid down that tree and began 
to play tag with each other in the snow. How happy 
they were! The snow was soft like velvet, and both 
of them had on heavy clothes, for rabbits, you know, 
dress up warm when it begins to get cold. They had 


MOTHER EARTH’S WHITE DRESS 


a fine time before their mother called them and told 
them it was time to go to bed. Bunny said that he 
would never again complain about so wonderful a 
thing as snow. 

And that white dress, which is made of snow, has 
been taken as a symbol of purity ever since it first 
came. 




H -B.R 


^tran^eJBabg 

M other owl was very sleepy when Johnny 
Jay came to her house. But Johnny makes so 
much noise that no one can sleep. When she opened 
her eyes and saw him sitting on a limb but a few feet 
away and wiping his bill just as if he would like to 
ask a question or two, she felt a little vexed toward 
Johnny. 

“Well, Johnny Blue Jay, what ails you?’’ 
“Nothing at all. Mother Owl. But I have been 
wondering about something all day. Perhaps you can 
tell me about it.” 

Now Johnny Blue Jay was a young fellow and had 
not seen much of the world, but he had seen Mrs. 
Dove feeding a very queer sort of baby. It was not 


THE STRANGE BABY 


one of her own children. To make it seem more 
strange he had overheard both Mrs. Meadow Lark and 
Mrs. Field Sparrow talking about a strange baby in 
their nests. All three of these housekeepers did not 
know what to do about taking care of strange children 
in their nests. He had seen the one in Mrs. Dove’s 
nest, so he felt sure there was no mistake about it. 
This baby was very much larger and did not look at 
all like Mrs. Dove’s children. 

Mother Owl listened until Johnny had finished 
telling about it and then she closed her eyes and 
laughed. “Why, Johnny, I don’t wonder that you are 
surprised about it. Even Mrs. Meadow Lark and Mrs. 
Sparrow have never kept house until this summer and 
so have never had such a thing happen before. They 
will soon find out whose children those are in their 
nests. Mrs. Dove, poor soul, lost all her eggs this year 
by this meddlesome bird who knocked one of her eggs 
out of the nest and then laid one. 

“Mrs. Dove never did know who did it, for it was 
her first attempt at housekeeping. This strange egg 


THE STRANGE 


BABY 



“MRS. DOVE, POOR SOUL, LOST ALL HER EGGS THIS YEAR’ 


0 


THE STRANGE BABY 


was in her nest when she returned from hunting food 
one day. She couldn’t help wondering about it. She 
knew the egg was not her own. It almost broke her 
poor little heart, but she decided to make the best of 
it and sat on that strange egg until it hatched to see 
what it turned out to be. The same thing is going on 
right now in both Mrs. Lark’s and Mrs. Sparrow’s 
nests. Neither of them knows who the strange baby 
is in their nests. 

“This strange baby is a young cow-bird. Its mother 
goes all round looking for nests to lay eggs in. She 
waits until the owner gets off to get something to eat 
and then she gets on the nest and lays one of her own 
eggs. It saves her the trouble of building a nest of 
her own, and besides she don’t have to sit for several 
weeks hatching out her eggs. She makes some other 
bird do it. Oh, how lazy she is ! 

“This cow-bird lays an egg in a nest and then goes 
to look for another until she has laid five or six eggs, 
each in different nests. Of course when the eggs are 
hatched the bird who hatches them feeds the young 


THE STRANGE BABY 


bird as well as her own. A mother cow-bird does not 
know what it is to raise her own children. 

‘'She goes about like that every year, making other 
people be stepmothers to her children, and she never 
even asks the other birds whether they want the job. 

“They are called cow-birds because they are so often 
seen with cattle. While the cows are eating they 
scare up a great many insects which the cow-bird 
catches. You can see for yourself, Johnny Blue Jay, 
that this cow-bird is lazy. It won’t look for its food, 
it depends upon some other bird to build a nest for it 
to lay in, and expects some other bird to hatch its eggs 
and feed its children.” 

“What shall we do with it?” asked Johnny, who felt 
very cross. 

“We can’t do a thing about it,” answered Mother 
Owl. “Grandmother Nature knows why she wants it 
to do the way it does, but I’m sure I don’t.” 

Johnny Blue Jay wouldn’t stay another minute, 
because he was very anxious to see that strange baby 


once more. 


THE STRANGE BABY 


He knew very well that when it grew up it would 
turn out to be just as lazy as its mother, even though 
it was hatched by Mrs. Dove and fed just as she fed 
her own nice children. Johnny did not always do nice 
things himself, but he was very cross at so selfish a bird. 

































< 




